I’m not sure why, but I have a knack, an ability—a gift, really—for stepping in animal excrement. If it’s at all possible to step in it, then I will step in it. It’s to the point where I think God is supernaturally intervening to make it happen. I can picture him up in Heaven with some angels saying, Watch this…watch this. Wait for it: he’s going to do it again. Probably my favorite “Kyle stepped in what?” story was this time in high school when I was going to pick-up a girl for our first date. I cut through the grass because I don’t have time for sidewalks. But when someone owns a pet the grass can be like a minefield. I was a little nervous about the date and wasn’t paying much attention because I was trying to focus on not being nervous about the date. Her mom answered the door and invited me in. The girl came in and we sat down on the couch to talk to her parents and I soon noticed a smell. I leaned a little closer to the girl and sniffed. She seemed fine. I leaned into where her parents were sitting and sniffed. They were OK. The smell seemed to be coming from the general vicinity of…ME! Then I noticed that I had tracked a hefty amount of dung into the entryway and onto the carpet.And that was the end of that relationship. Here’s what happens to a lot of Christians: they decide to follow Jesus, they commit themselves to Him, and they make it through the front door—only to find out they have tracked a bunch of junk in with them. Their sins were washed away, they were forgiven when they accepted God’s saving grace, but the stench seemed to stay. And now they’re in the house but they don’t smell very good and they’re worried about the relationship. There are two important theological words that help us with this – justification and sanctification. Justification is the saving grace of Jesus that we receive when we become a Christian. He made us right before God. Justification is a date you can circle on the calendar. You can point to it and say, “That’s when it happened.” Sanctification is the grace of God that makes us more like the one we follow. Sanctification is a lifelong process of being made more like Jesus. While Justification deals with our position in Christ – a position that is secure—sanctification is an ongoing process. It happens daily as we surrender ourselves to Jesus.On the narrow path we will still stumble and fall, but His grace justifies and His grace sanctifies. As I said in my message, “We won’t follow Jesus perfectly, but we should follow him wholeheartedly.”
Permanent Link to Why do I still smell? Comments 13
Enjoyed the message very much Sunday. It’s peaching like it should be. My toes are still hurting .
Alistair Begg has a great sermon on the topic of Justification and Sanctification that can be downloaded for free at:
https://store.truthforlife.org/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&pfrom=0&pto=9999&action=search&search_in_description=1&keyword=Sanctification
I am being stirred inside by the Holy Spirit to whole heartedly follow Jesus. I want to be more than just confident about my place beside Him. I want to relish being near Him. How? It all seems so out of reach yet I know He waits for me. What stops me from surrendering? Lord reveal my own heart to me and give me the grace to accept the reality of my weakness.
The words “On the narrow path we stumble and fall” had a whole new meaning for me a few days ago and God used my experience to drive home some profound truths. I’d signed up to run a 5K race thinking I was ready for this challenge. I ran on the level pavement in my neighborhood and paced myself to RUN the distance without any difficulty. I was ready, after all I had trained for this moment! I get to the race and find out that it’s not on a wide, paved road, but it’s CROSS COUNTRY all the way through the rugged woods. To my surprise, there were multiple hills, mud, and even horse poop along the way! (Kyle, would you have stepped in it?)The trail was very narrow at many spots making it difficult to get around anyone. As I angrily thought “THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR!” my foot stepped down into a muddy hole and I stumbled horribly, almost falling to the ground as I staggered forward. At one point I truly wanted to quit and turn around. After all, this wasn’t what I expected and it seemed so unfair. But something compelled me to keep going one step at a time.Towards the end of the race I think I heard God laughing. Then the laughing turned to a powerful whisper…”Lisa, following me is a lot like this race. There’s going to be unexpected things like mud, winding hills, and horse poop. The path is hard and narrow. You can’t possibly train for it because you’re not in control of the course…I am.” As I trudged closer to the finish line, I could hear people cheering. The closer I got to the crowd, I could see my family members welcoming me with open arms. I finished the race, yes. But this went much deeper for me. I now have a powerful visual of what it is to follow Jesus. I should expect mud, winding hills, and even horse poop….but if I stay on the pathway one step at a time, I have the assurance that Jesus will catch me when I stumble and fall on the narrow path.
Great analogy and so true! Thanks for preaching in a way that my daughter (a U of L student) can relate to! She told me about your blog and I can see why she can. To God be the glory as you serve him and lead others to a deeoer relationship with Christ!
The absolute best exposition on Sanctification is JC Ryle’s “Holiness”.
I want to add that salvation is a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sin and our need for a Savior. We are never Justified without our hearts being regenerated and Justification never takes place without sanctification. There are no long term ‘carnal’ Christians. And many misunderstand some proof texts on that score.
When we are saved our relationship with sin changes. We hate the sin we once loved and are in repentance daily. We start to love what God loves and hate what God hates. ( See Psalm 5:5)
And as our hearts are regenerated, we start seeing the depths of our sin. We had no idea how depraved we really are. Which is why His sacrfice becomes so dear to us. We cannot stand to go one day without talking with our Savior or meditating on His Word.
You might ’smell’ a bit here and there but we are walking in the light (1 John) if we are saved. That is what being Born Again means…we are changed and it is obvious to those around us. That precious blood was not cheap. God hates sin.
Thanks for such meaningful messages!
I want to say thanks to Kyle and thanks to everyone at Southeast. I am currently finishing week two of a 7 week stay in Sacatapequez, Guatemala, interning with an organization that provides free medical care for children. It has been difficult to leave behind my family and friends to serve with people who do not share my conviction as a follower, even though I know this is where God wants me to be.
Today is Sunday, but the other members of the organization made no attempts to go to church. I needed to be refreshed. The lady who cooks for us is a believer and I tried to go with her, but when we got to the church we found out that they had changed the time. As we drove back home, it occurred to me that Southeast posts their messages online. I listened to the “committed” sermon and sat on my bunk bed and cried as Kyle talked about what it means to be committed.
I am here. I am following. And I can tell you right now I am UNCOMFORTABLE.
It was so encouraging to hear that message and remember that suffering and loneliness don’t mean I am facing the wrong direction. Actually, they are a further affirmation that I am right where God has called me to be.
The organization I am working with put “Christian” in the mission statement, but it was really more of a justification for requesting that volunteers agree to a behavioral code. The people I work with believe that they are believers, but Jesus is not the center.
Despite what everyone may say, I am committing today to making Jesus the center of all I say and do in this country in the next five weeks. It is easier for me to make Jesus the center when I have a place to rejuvenate and a routine with which I am accustomed. I laid that all down when I came to Guatemala. Whatever others may think, whatever my boss may say, I’m following that still small voice.
Thanks for being my encouragement even when I’m so far away.
Kathy
I will add you to my daily Prayers, that God send you the strength of the Holy Spirit, DAILY. I pray that you stayed focused on the heart felt reason of why you decided to go to Gutamala. You went with Christ in your heart. Stay focused. Continue to pray everyday. I share with you my prayer of Jabez.
I pray this every morning, along with the Not a Fan Daily Prayer:
I repent my sins
I Die to myself
I surrender this day to Him
I turn this day over to Him
I ask for His blessing for me and my family…and others
I ask that that He expand my horizons, my responsibilities
I give Him Thanks for all that He has given me, my family
I ask for His help in keeping me from evil / Satan today. To make me a Warrior in my fight against Satan.
Kathy, I pray today that you too become a Warrior, and a Follower!
Hopefully more people can learn from this post what I have. A great contribution to the world at large.
Thanks for the well-thought article. I’m actually at work at the moment! So I need to go off without reading all I’d like. However, I put your blog on my RSS feed so that I can read even more.
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